Tourism in motorhome is consolidated as a consolidated tourist option. According to the data provided by the Spanish Association of Caravaning Industry and Commerce (Aseicar), an average of more than 250,000 motorhomes circulate in Spain. These are some of the best motorhome routes in Spain that you should do according to your own experience.
Why do the Spanish choose the motorhome to spend their holidays?
What do advocates and practitioners of caravanning or motorhome tourism value ? In the first place, freedom of movement, as opposed to the geographical stagnation of arranging a hotel room in a specific place.
Secondly, travelers value the freedom of schedules as an incentive to choose this type of tourism to get to know Spain . Finally, they all agree that contact with nature and the experience of living in a small space as two determining factors in deciding on the motorhome.
And the price? Nobody mentions the savings that is identified with this new type of tourism, although hoteliers have already raised numerous complaints about the economic repercussions of losing this type of traveler who is not limited to traveling in high season.
The best motorhome routes in Spain
National tourism does not have to mean looking for a hotel near the beach, or staying fixed in a destination for weeks that, depending on the affection for the place, can lead to emotional fatigue for travelers. Itinerant caravan tourism opens a way to explore new options for family tourism.
Below are the five best motorhome routes in Spain according to the users of this particular motorhome.
Route through the Picos de Europa in a motorhome
Do you fancy a destination in connection with nature and that, in addition, is cool at any time of the year? The Picos de Europa constitute one of the most unique and exuberant places on the Peninsula.
On this summer motorhome route you will enjoy some of the most beautiful mountain villages such as Oseja de Sajambre, in the heart of the Cornión massif in León, where the forests are the protagonists. You can do hiking routes or more leisurely tourism.
Another nearby town that is worth a visit is Posada de Valdeón , with its mountainous landscape and its great gastronomic wealth – don’t leave without trying the blue cheeses of the area.
In subsequent stages, beauties such as the Lakes of Covadonga , the Sanctuary Cave and the Basilica, where legend has it that D. Pelayo took refuge to begin the Reconquest, await you.
Given its high ecological value, and the degree of overcrowding it reaches at certain times of the year, you will have to spend the night in nearby Cangas de Onís, since there are no designated areas for parking and spending the night.
The town of Cangas de Onís, with its magnificent Roman bridge, is one of the favorite places to see the Descent del Sella pass , one of the most deeply-rooted canoeing competitions. It is celebrated in summer. The motorhome parking in this town, El Llerau, is free.
What motorhomes value the most on this route are the roads that run between cutting edges, ports, lost towns and large gorges that connect the provinces and regions that make up Los Picos de Europa (León, Asturias and Cantabria).
The Alto Empordá in the Catalan Pyrenees, among the best motorhome routes in Spain
And from one mountainous region to another from the same geological age. Doing the route of the Catalan Pyrenees in a motorhome will allow you to discover areas that are classified among the most beautiful in Spain.
Alto Empordá, in the province of Gerona, houses coastal towns of singular beauty such as Cadaqués , where the Dalí Museum is located.
It is close to Cabo de Creus and Rosas and Empuria. In both towns you have parking for a motorhome, with a cost of about € 10 depending on the services you hire.
The next stop on this motorhome route through Gerona is Empuriabrava , or the Catalan Venice and its twenty kilometers of navigable canals between the houses.
Figueres is also a good option to spend the night, since the car park, in addition to being free, is close to a refueling and restoration area .
On this route you cannot miss the opportunity to walk through Perelada , a beautiful medieval town.
The Via de la Plata Route or how to travel Spain from north to south (or vice versa)
Whether you travel from north to south or south to north, the Ruta de la Plata will allow you to visit four autonomous communities, seven provinces, and some of the most beautiful cities in Spain.
The Vía de la Plata was established as a royal ravine during the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula . In addition to being used by transumance , it was one of the routes for the exploitation of gold and silver in the north.
Throughout its more than 800 kilometers , the traveler travels through some of the historical cities founded by the Romans : Asturica Augusta (Astorga) Brigeco (Castrogonzalo), Salamantia (Salamanca), Norba Caesarina (Cáceres) and the majestic Emerita Augusta (Mérida). ). This being the original road, today it also includes León and the area of Asturias in the north, and the extension to Itálica and Hispalis (Seville) in the south.
From Gijón to Astorga
If you start from the north, Gijón is a good starting point to walk around and get to know a port city, to continue on your way to Oviedo and its European spirit.
If necessary, both cities have parking for a motorhome , although it is advisable to continue to León and take advantage of the overnight stay to rest and spend the next morning getting to know the city.
In the afternoon, you can travel quietly to Astorga and organize the overnight stay to continue the next day to Salamanca by the Ruta de la Plata highway that starts here and will take us to Seville.
Visiting Salamanca will not consume more than one day, so you can choose to sleep in Salamanca or take the opportunity to go to the Sierra de Gata and spend the night in the motorhome parking in La Alberca , one of the most beautiful towns in Spain. If you have time, take the opportunity to spend a day in the area. It will captivate you.
From Jerte to Seville via Mérida
We continue through the Sierra de las Batuecas towards the Jerte , beautiful in spring, during the flowering of the cherry trees, and we make a stop in Plasencia , to continue on our route to the beautiful and unknown Cáceres. Its historic center deserves a leisurely visit.
The next destination, Mérida, awaits the traveler to surprise the whole family with its Roman remains: a living museum.
Here you can continue with the route to Seville or divert to Badajoz, near the border with Portugal, in an area of great beauty.
We finish the route in Seville, near Itálica, where the Giralda, Triana and Maestranza await us , after passing through the city of Zafra , declared a Historic-Artistic Site of National Interest.
The Quijote Route, one of the best motorhome routes in Spain and the most unknown
It all started in a place in La-Mancha whose name we still do not know. There Cervantes devised a mockery of chivalry and a social portrait of Spain in the Golden Age. Today, traveling the Don Quixote route in a motorhome is one of the best inland tourism options for family travel : culture, creative activities, attractive landscapes and a lot of literature.
The route starts from Toledo, the historic city where many events and great artists are located. The A lcázar and the El Greco Museum are worth a visit here, as well as strolling through its streets and seeing first-hand how the three main monotheistic religions coexisted in it . Yes, like Jerusalem, but on the other side of the Mediterranean.
The next milestone passes through Campo de Criptana where the giant-mills remain. Continue through Almagro, city of theaters, Bolaños de Calatrava and Villanueva de los Infantes, one of the largest towns.
Here we can turn off and head towards Belmonte , where every year medieval jousts are held and whose castle, belonging to the Alba family, can be visited.
The last stop could not be in another locality than El Toboso, Dulcinea’s hometown. Although the town has hardly any patrimonial interest, in addition to the fame that Don Quixote gave it, it has made it the site of an interesting book museum. It is also a meeting point for graphic artists and illustrators.
Throughout the route there are areas for motorhomes and campsites with all the services that the motorhome tourist needs.
Get to know Aragon by motorhome
There are other destinations other than the coast that are worth visiting in Spain. Such is the case of Aragon , a historical region that holds some internationally recognized jewels -such as La Pilarica in Zaragoza-, but also holds secrets that you can discover during your motorhome trip and that will surprise you.
We start this route in a motorhome through Aragon in Sos del Rey Católico. The city that gave birth to Ferdinand II of Aragon, nicknamed and known to posterity as Ferdinand the Catholic, the town keeps its medieval essence – the Homage tower, the fish market, the Jewish quarter, the entrance gates … -. Sos offers an extraordinary viewpoint to the Navarrese and Huesca Pyrenees.
The famous film “La Vaquilla” by Luís García Berlanga was filmed here, witness of which are the monuments that run through the town.
Why do motorhome fans like it? The access road arriving through Navarra immerses you in the pre-Pyrenees landscape , with curves, micro landscapes, and good asphalt. The population has a rest area and water change for motorhomes , although the limit of stay there is 48 hours.
If you follow the route to the Pyrenees, the next stop may be Jaca , where you can enjoy the citadel or the Cathedral; If you head south, you can’t miss Loarre , a town famous for its castle that has appeared in big blockbusters like The Kingdom of Heaven.
The city of Huesca is also worth a visit on your motorhome route through Aragon. Its cathedral, its streets and squares and its good gastronomy are splendid incentives to stop and eat in the city. And yes, it has free parking for motorhomes, with a maximum overnight stay of 72 hours and all the necessary services nearby.
Way south: Zaragoza and Teruel
From Huesca, we go down to Zaragoza, connecting with the Gállego river , and following its course, either by the national road or by the regional ones, until we reach the capital.
If you have not spent the night in Huesca, Zaragoza is a good city to spend the night if you travel by motorhome.
The route continues to Teruel, after passing through the Sierra del Albarracín, a must-see.
These are just a small sample of all the motorhome routes with which you can (re) discover Spain. Does this type of itinerant tourism call you? If you already practice it and you think we have missed other better motorhome routes in Spain, indicate your suggestion or experience in the comments.
